The ruling class is trying to launch a new Red Scare against communism. To this end, the New York Post dug up an old video of Zohran explaining that DSA’s goal is “seizing the means of production.”
Regardless of what Mamdani’s position today might be, we should answer these nursery tales about the specter of communism. What’s the real communist stance on seizing the means of production?
Means of production are everything society uses to produce goods and services, from tractors to factories to computers.
Do communists seek to seize them from every business, big or small, all at once? Far from it. In fact, just 500 monopolies account for two-thirds of US GDP and employ 30.5 million workers—a decisive fraction of the workforce.
America’s five largest banks hold $11.2 trillion in domestic assets. The five largest asset managers oversee $45 trillion. Just three of them have a controlling stake in 438 of the S&P 500 firms. Together, these entities control the “commanding heights of the economy”—the key levers of production and exchange which dominate the rest of the economy.
Competition for profit has forged the conditions for a rationally planned economy by concentrating the means of production in fewer hands than ever before. Under a workers’ government, they’ll be nationalized, amalgamated, and integrated into a centralized plan of production, operated under democratic workers’ control in the interests of the majority.
Due to this concentration, the capitalists have devised various means to attempt to manage their economy. Take the Bloomberg Terminal. This $32,000 app, widely used by Wall Street gamblers, tracks the production and flow of commodities, prices, and market speculation, down to the most minute detail—all in real time. For instance, the terminal can call up maps of every oil tanker and cargo ship in the world, along with detailed inventories of their cargoes.
Under a rational socialist plan, such technology could be expanded to include more factors, from water availability, to soil depletion, weather patterns, and more. Instead of being a tool for speculation, this centralized database could be used to coordinate every layer of the supply chain. It would become a powerful means for the workers’ government to plan the economy.
Endless waste
Despite some internal planning within big firms and financial conglomerates, the profit motive continues to drive competition between firms. This inevitably leads to anarchy in production, resulting in overproduction and waste.
How much land, electricity, and labor is wasted by five AI companies working at crosspurposes? How much time was squandered and lives lost with the uncombined efforts of four Big Pharma firms separately developing Covid-19 vaccines?
Additionally, the American ruling class is only utilizing 76% of already existing productive forces. At least $2.3 trillion in corporate cash sits idle. And trillions more are squandered on the stock market for speculation.
What will this look like?
Take the energy sector. Electricity, gas, and diesel prices are squeezing workers everywhere. Aggregating the big three US oil companies—ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—into a single nationalized company will immediately reduce production and transportation costs. Merge these with already monopolized regional and state utilities providers like Pacific Gas & Electric, Duke Energy, and ConEdison, and the planned economy will have a centralized energy network in its grasp.
Moreover, bringing Big Tech under public control and subjecting the AI buildout to a rational plan will end the anarchy of data center and natural gas plant construction. Our centralized energy network could meet the needs of new technology in a transition to sustainable energy sources such as nuclear fusion, which has been starved of funding for years.
Will there be bread lines?
Food prices are another menace to working families. And yet, every year one-third of food is wasted on farms, in transit, or on warehouse and grocery shelves. Capitalism’s rot will give way to rationalized agriculture, which will provide a superabundance of healthy, affordable food.
Out of 1.88 million farms, just 12% produce 80% of what we eat. Expropriating these, in addition to seed and agrochemical monopoly Monsanto, grain processor Cargill, and farm equipment giant John Deere, will give us effective command over the food supply, without expropriating small family-run farms. By unifying the private banks into one public financial system, the workers’ government will provide affordable loans and cheap farming implements to small farmers.
Just eight companies dominate the processing, distribution, and sale of poultry (60%), pork (70%), and beef (85%). Merging them together, combined with central planning, will help prevent shortages, excesses, and price spikes.
The planned economy will combine Sysco, US Foods, and other firms into one distribution and logistics system. Trucking accounts for 72% of freight transport, including a majority of food. By expropriating Union Pacific, BNSP Railways, and other major railways, and then laying thousands of miles of new track, we will create the most environmentally sustainable and efficient transportation system our country has ever had.
The 20 largest food retailers account for 65% of grocery sales. Walmart alone controls 20% of the market. Consolidating them into a public chain of supermarkets will allow the workers’ government to guarantee low prices for all, without touching a single corner store. AI inventory systems like Walmart’s “Retail Link” and “Amazon Robotics” will monitor inventory, clock consumption trends, and construct just-in-time inventory with robotics for the benefit of the entire working class. This technology’s potential is wasted by Bezos and the Waltons.
We will reduce necessary working hours through full employment and increasing automation, creating more time for leisure, culture, and participation in democratically running society. The means of production will be transformed from means for our exploitation to means for life’s enjoyment.